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Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven has shared his excitement at playing in Europe this season, because it means less time training.

The defender has been speaking to Viaplay in the Netherlands as Tottenham get set to take on Qarabag in the Europa League league phase.

Tottenham qualified for UEFA’s secondary European competition last season and will need to navigate clashes with Qarabag, Ferencvaros, AZ Alkmaar, Galatasaray, Roma, Rangers, Hoffenheim and Elfsborg until the end of January in order to qualify for the knockout phases.

They spent last season out of Europe after featuring in the 2022/23 Champions League and the first time they’ve been in the Europa League since 2020/21 when they reached the round of 16 before being knocked out by Dinamo Zagreb.

They have regularly been in Europe down the years, but this is a new look, younger Tottenham squad under Ange Postecoglou which will include many playing in Europe for the first time.

Van de Ven is one of them and can’t wait to get started, having failed to make it off of the bench when his previous club, Wolfsburg, were competing in Europe.

“We played with Wolfsburg in the Champions League in the first year, but I didn’t play anything,” he said.

“I did sit on the bench in every game, but I didn’t play anything. And now it’s my European debut. Hopefully I can make it on Thursday.

“I think it’s already the best, more matches. Less training. You always want to play matches. It’s hard of course, but it’s the best.”

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